Ex-Researcher (VA) Pleads Guilty to Homicide

By ALICIA CHANG
.c The Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A former cancer researcher pleaded guilty Tuesday to criminally negligent homicide in the death of a patient enrolled in a clinical trial at an upstate New York veterans' hospital.

Paul Kornak, 53, also pleaded guilty to felony counts of mail fraud and making a false statement, admitting he forged medical records of dozens of patients at the Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center to make them eligible for drug studies and falsely claimed to be a doctor.

The homicide charge stemmed from the death of 71-year-old James DiGeorgio, an Air Force veteran who died in 2001 shortly after participating in a drug-research program for stomach cancer.

Kornak's indictment in 2003 prompted a review of clinical trials at Veteran Affairs hospitals nationwide which found inadequate policies governing trials and training to protect volunteers from abuse.

The former researcher, who is free until his May 27 sentencing, had faced prison sentences ranging from four to 20 years on the three counts, but the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down existing federal sentencing guidelines. The judge said he has not decided upon a sentence.

A 48-count indictment handed up in 2003 charged Kornak with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and fraud, among other charges.

In court papers, Kornak's lawyer, E. Stewart Jones, dismissed claims that DiGeorgio's death was linked to his participation in the study. DiGeorgio was hospitalized with advanced-stage stomach cancer on May 14, 2001; his death certificate said he died of respiratory arrest due to cancer.

After the court hearing, Jones maintained Kornak did nothing wrong.

``I think he acted with the best of intentions,'' Jones said.

But prosecutors said Kornak forged the test results of a blood sample provided by DiGeorgio so that he could qualify for the study even though he suffered from impaired liver and kidney function.

Kornak was hired by Stratton in 1999 to coordinate and conduct clinical trials despite a previous mail fraud conviction for falsifying information on a medical license application.

The indictment said Stratton earned thousands of dollars for each patient enrolled in drug trials in which drug companies test drugs on cancer patients, a necessary step in trying to get government approval.

Stratton officials have said the institution strengthened its hiring methods, research practices and oversight activities since Kornak's arrest.   



01/18/05 20:23 EST